Eurasian Rock Pipit

The Eurasian Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) is a small species of passerine bird which breeds on rocky coasts of western Europe.

Taxonomy and systematics

The Rock Pipit was first described by Pennant in 1766 in the first edition of British Zoology, although he did not distinguish it. It was first distinguished by Walcott in the 1789 edition of British Birds, in which he called it the Sea Lark. Latham was the first to give the Rock Pipit a scientific name, in 1790, but had misidentified the species he was naming and the following year figured it to be the Dusky Lark. In the same year, Montagu, who Latham had consulted on the subject, discovered the Rock Pipit on the coast of South Wales, which was known to some fishermen in the region as the "Rock Lark".^[2]

There are three subspecies of Eurasian Rock Pipit:^[3]

• Western Rock Pipits
  • Anthus petrosus kleinschmidti - native to the Faeroe Islands, Shetland, Orkney, Fair Isle and St. Kilda
  • Anthus petrosus petrosus - found in Ireland, Great Britain, northwest France and the Channel Islands
• Eastern Rock Pipits
  • Anthus petrosus littoralis - ranges from the Scandinavian Peninsula and northwestern Russia to southern Spain and northwestern Africa. Has also been found on Ireland on several occasions.^[4]

Description

The Rock Pipit is the most inconspicuous of the pipits. They are closely related to the Tree and Meadow Pipits and are rather similar in appearance, however are larger and have darker legs.^[5] It has dusky outer tail feathers, unlike the pure white of most pipits.^[6] It can also be distinguished by its smoke-coloured plumage, pale eye-ring and dark breast, although the breast streaks are poorly defined.^[5][6] The upperparts are dark olive with buff underparts. It has a length of 16 centimetres and a wingspan of 25 centimetres, with a weight of 24 grams.^[7]

Distribution and habitat

Behaviour and ecology

Breeding

Food and feeding

Threats or Survival

In culture or Relationship to humans

Status

Existing Content

The Eurasian Rock Pipit (Anthus petrosus) is a small passerine bird species which breeds on rocky coasts of western Europe northwards from Brittany. It is mainly resident in Ireland, Great Britain and France, in the west of its range, but the Scandinavian and Russian populations migrate south in winter; individuals sometimes stray into inland Europe. In Saxony it is a rarely seen visitor; for example, the Staatliches Museum für Tierkunde Dresden has but a single specimen (C 13347), a male shot at Dresden as long ago as 8 October 1894.^[8]

It was formerly included within its putative sister species, the Water Pipit (A. spinoletta), as was their slightly more distinct Pacific relative the Buff-bellied Pipit (A. rubescens).

Description, systematics and ecology

Like most other pipits, this is an undistinguished looking species on the ground, mainly dark brown above and heavily streaked buff below. It has dark legs, pale grey outer tail feathers and a longish dark bill. Its dark plumage is an adaptation to the rocky coasts on which it breeds and winters.

West European birds (subspecies A. p. petrosus, A. p. kleinschmidti and A. p. meinertzhageni) remain dark grey-buff all year. Scandinavian and Baltic Sea birds (A. p. littoralis) are usually indistinguishable from petrosus in winter; they may show pinkish underparts and a pale supercilium in summer, resembling the Water Pipit (A. spinoletta). Vagrant birds in winter are easily distinguished from Water Pipits but impossible to assign to subspecies by appearance and measurements. However, the western populations are known to be nearly sedentary, so east of the Elbe basin vagrant Rock Pipits are presumably mostly littoralis.^[8][9]

Its call is an explosive fit. The song, as in many pipits, is a series of "blocks" of repeated more or less shrill cheeping single or double notes; it ends on a trill and has usually fewer, but longer-lasting "blocks" (a dozen repetitions or more) than in the Water Pipit.

This species is insectivorous like its relatives, and as usual for Motacillidae seeks out much of its prey on foot. Eurasian Rock Pipits tend to be found along rocky coasts, whereas Water Pipits favour damp grassland. While they may be occur in the same general area occasionally, they are rarely found in the same habitat. The Eurasian Rock Pipit is a much more approachable bird than the Water Pipit. If startled, it flies a fairly short distance, close to the ground, before it lands again.^[9]

References

External links

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